Matthew McConaughey Says He’s Had Talks With Marvel and DC, Is Open to Playing a Superhero

Matthew McConaughey went from the affable guy in modest action films and mainstream rom-coms to serious actor with roles in projects like Mud, True Detective and Dallas Buyers Club — the latter of which earned him the Oscar for Best Actor. McConaughey is currently kind of a big deal, and when you're kind of a big deal, studios like Marvel and Warner Bros. want you for their superhero films. The actor says that's certainly the case, although he hasn't signed on for anything just yet.

In an interview with Variety to promote his upcoming film Sea of Trees (which premiered at the Cannes film festival this week), McConaughey was asked if he would consider starring in a superhero film, like most of his peers are doing now. The actor then revealed that he's had talks with Marvel and DC/Warner Bros. already:

I’ve read some Marvel and DC scripts and I’ve talked about working with them on some scripts, none of which I’ll share with with you what they are — or were. Yeah, I’ve circled some of those. Nothing has been right for me yet. But I’m sure open to it.

While both studios are probably dying to have McConaughey play just about any major role in their respective superhero universes, the actor is self-aware enough to know that he can't just take any role — it has to be the right one. He went on to explain:

It’s very simple for me. I look at the script. Is the opportunity exciting? Is the money that comes with it exciting? Sure. Is it the possibility of going, ‘Hey you can get on a train and it can be a franchise and you could do 3, 4, 5, and have a great time as some kind of superhero or anti-hero.’ But I would also look at something like that and say, ‘Hey, in success that means you are on the train for a while.’ Contractually, you’re going to return to the character over and over. It’s something I asked myself is it something I’d want to return to. Would I be excited to go back and put the shoes on the character again? Going and doing the press tour with that group of people again? I always ask myself those questions again. It starts with the story and character.

He's right, not only about needing to find the right role that plays to his own strengths, but about the contractual obligations that come with accepting one of these roles. If the role isn't perfect, he may end up unhappily locked into a franchise for several years and dealing with all the baggage that comes with it.

I'm not sure McConaughey is the right kind of star for a superhero film — then again, Benedict Cumberbatch seemed like an odd choice for Marvel, but they seemingly found the right role for him in their universe. Anything is possible.